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Google responds to privacy concerns, kills Buzz autofollow feature
Another privacy concern was that Google Reader and Picasa accounts were automatically connected to Buzz. Not only was this a privacy concern, it was a spam issue. I have some friends who disconnected their Reader accounts from Buzz because they habitually share a huge number of items. That's cool in Reader, where people have already learned your habits and opted in to follow you. Not so cool in Buzz, especially when autofollows were in place.
All in all, this was a smart move on Google's part. Buzz is an interesting concept, and it could very easily have become tainted with privacy complaints and cries of Big Brother. Way to go, privacy watchdogs of the web, for calling for a change. Way to go, Google, for implementing it so quickly.
[via Gmail Blog]
Comments
8
Subscribe to commentsr3loadedFeb 14th 2010 8:52AM
So if Google was playing Modern Warfare 2, would this count as a buzzkill?
I'll get my coat...
Benjamin WrightFeb 14th 2010 10:22AM
Google Buzz is better suited than FB or Twitter for official corporate or government communications -- such as a product recall or county emergency response. For such an application, part of the answer to the privacy issue is for the enterprise PR department to open a dedicated gmail account and proclaim that all communications through it (buzz, e-mail) are open public record. My Buzz on this topic: http://bit.ly/9gxinH
Gilbert PalauFeb 14th 2010 11:12AM
Only thing I have to say is that Google Buzz doesn't work until you use it. So if you got an abusive hubby on your ass either move to Texas, or don't use Google Buzz and you will be safe.
HylicFeb 14th 2010 11:30AM
Not quite true, If you made a public profile, then someone can click on your name and see who you are following and who is following you.
Google may have changed this by now, but that is definitely how it worked until now.
Remember Eric Schmidt said in an interview with CNBC
"If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place."
http://www.cnbc.com/id/24387350/site/
The reality is Google is a large corporation, and the different decisions (such as whether it should be op-in or opt-out etc.) regarding how to implement Buzz were unlikely to have been made lightly. Google took a gamble on how much they can betray their users and get away with, and unfortunately its seems like their bet may pay off.
RichFeb 14th 2010 1:11PM
That's nice, but I still think the damage is done and the ones that turned it off are unlikely to turn it back on.
FreeOurInternetFeb 14th 2010 11:36PM
Are you kidding me? This is the take over of our internet as we know it.
Go to the OpenId home page, google it. Notice how the white house sits above all the other companies backing one form of ID for the internet, Yahoo, Google, Myspace, Word Press, AOL, ALL BACKING ONE FORM OF ID. Preferably biometric I might add. Since when do all these companies agree on anything?
Google Infowars Internet, or check out youtube. There is a take over in place as we speak of our internet and no one is talking about it. Sites sponsored by AOL, and newspapers, don't want to talk about it because they know it will destroy independent media. They have lost a lot of money from independent media, and they know they will be on the allow lists once internet 2.0 is put into place.
BIO METRIC DATA USED TO LOG INTO ALL INTERNET ACTIVITY.
Search facebook for the group "Protect Internet Freedom" for more information.
michas_piFeb 15th 2010 12:28PM
@FreeOurInternet:
Thank you.
Only the paranoid survive.
RichFeb 15th 2010 2:11PM
Don't believe everything you see on the internet that is how WWI got started.